It's one of those things where you only hear about the bad ones, because stories like yours aren't clickbait worthy. But a lot of the HOA laws are set up in ways that allow people to do some shifty things, so keep an eye on your board and their finances.
this post was submitted on 23 Sep 2023
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Yes not all HOAs are bad.
Read your bylaws before buying, review finances hard.
Especially don't buy into copy paste house HOAs.
And some start off good but become bad over time. New board members is one way.
I don't love our HOA, but they are pretty inoffensive and don't really bother me. They don't want to deal with actual fines and whatnot, so they just keep kindly reminding folks to move their trashcans and their cars off the street. Our very low yearly fee is used to maintain common ground, pay for the lights on the street, and snow plowing for the subdivision streets. In general, I think I would still prefer not having one and having more freedom, but so far they haven't been anything like the mini dictatorships you hear about all the time. Solid meh.
HOA, by default, are not bad. They just have the potential to become bad quickly.
I have had several and they were mixed experiences.
I keep an eye on my HOA’s finances, but for the most part they provide a great deal of services for not much cost. Hell the tree trimming alone would cost as much as a full year of dues.
Not all HOAs are bad. But when an HOA is bad it's not a good situation to be in, the enjoyment and use of your home can be greatly affected by a bad HOA board.